JOHN K. REYBOLD, LCDR, USN

From USNA Virtual Memorial Hall
John Reybold '26

Date of birth: January 11, 1903

Date of death: March 19, 1942

Age: 39

Lucky Bag

From the 1926 Lucky Bag:

1926 Reybold LB.jpg

John Keane Reybold

Delaware City, Delaware

"Jake" "Rye"

"AW, come on! I ain't goin' in that pool today. They'll have to push me in."

"I'll wear my cap so far down on my nose they'll tell me to pull it back."

"You oughter see my web-footed Delaware Spaniel; boy, there's a dawg, no foolin'." Famous sayings all, and typical of our own dear Bolshevik. He never said a word until after breakfast and then—well, you've read the above. "Knock off griping Reybold." "I'm not griping."

Rye was the saltiest of specimens at the Naval museum; and the little sea horses all vie with one another to imitate his swagger and nautical dress. Salty? Why he's been out on Delaware Bay, to say nothing of having been through the canal in a rowboat—a rowboat. Yes, sir, that canal—up by Delaware City.

Jake is more or less of a Red Mike, yet he always seemed to get letters from some sweet little Miss somewhere, and someday we hope to get a glimpse of this queen whose charms have captivated him.

Four years with you were great, Jake. You're a pal we won't forget. We trust the future to let us hear a piping voice yelling for someone to "snap out of it." We'll recognize it and then—oh, boy! We'll drink to the past at our leisure.

Class Baseball (4), Numerals (4).

1926 Reybold LB.jpg

John Keane Reybold

Delaware City, Delaware

"Jake" "Rye"

"AW, come on! I ain't goin' in that pool today. They'll have to push me in."

"I'll wear my cap so far down on my nose they'll tell me to pull it back."

"You oughter see my web-footed Delaware Spaniel; boy, there's a dawg, no foolin'." Famous sayings all, and typical of our own dear Bolshevik. He never said a word until after breakfast and then—well, you've read the above. "Knock off griping Reybold." "I'm not griping."

Rye was the saltiest of specimens at the Naval museum; and the little sea horses all vie with one another to imitate his swagger and nautical dress. Salty? Why he's been out on Delaware Bay, to say nothing of having been through the canal in a rowboat—a rowboat. Yes, sir, that canal—up by Delaware City.

Jake is more or less of a Red Mike, yet he always seemed to get letters from some sweet little Miss somewhere, and someday we hope to get a glimpse of this queen whose charms have captivated him.

Four years with you were great, Jake. You're a pal we won't forget. We trust the future to let us hear a piping voice yelling for someone to "snap out of it." We'll recognize it and then—oh, boy! We'll drink to the past at our leisure.

Class Baseball (4), Numerals (4).

Loss

John was lost on March 19, 1942 when USS Dickerson (DD 157) was struck by shells fired by an armed merchantman. He was the ship's commanding officer.

Biography & Other Information

From Navsource:

John Keane Reybold was born at Delaware City, Del. on 11 January 1903, was appointed midshipman 13 July 1922 and commissioned ensign on 3 June 1926. Having served in various ships including Idaho, Utah, Simpson (on the Asiatic Station), and Omaha, he assumed command of Cowell, on 17 June 1940. Detached on 23 September, he briefly commanded Claxton and on 31 October assumed command of Dickerson (DD 157). [Promoted to] lieutenant commander on 1 January 1941, he commanded Dickerson on Neutrality Patrol and, after December 1941, on coastal patrol and Icelandic convoy escort duty until 19 March 1942. On that date, Dickerson, enroute to Norfolk, was fired on by a nervous merchantman, SS Liberator. Liberator's shells hit the destroyer's charthouse, killing Lt. Comdr. Reybold and three others.

From researcher Kathy Franz:

John graduated from Wilmington high school in 1922. He was appointed to the Naval Academy by U. S. Senator L. Heisler Ball.

In 1935, he married Margaret Barton Stanbrough in Oswego, New York.

He left the Jacob Jones two months before she was sunk in February, 1942.

His father William was a retail merchant in a general store. His mother was Bernice, sister Mrs. Leah McAllister, and brother William, Jr.

His wife was listed as next of kin. He is buried in New York.

John is listed on the killed in action panel at the front of Memorial Hall.

Photographs

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.

The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.

The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.

October 1926
Ensign, USS Idaho

January 1927
Ensign, USS Idaho

April 1927
Ensign, USS Idaho

October 1927
Ensign, USS Utah

Others at this command:
January 1928
Ensign, USS Utah

Others at this command:
April 1928
Ensign, 16th Naval District
July 1928
Ensign, for assignment, Asiatic Fleet Staff
October 1928
Ensign, USS Simpson
January 1929
Ensign, USS Simpson
April 1929
Ensign, USS Simpson

Others at this command:
July 1929
Ensign, USS Simpson

Others at this command:
October 1929
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Simpson

Others at this command:
January 1930
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Simpson
April 1930
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Simpson
October 1930
Lieutenant (j.g.), engineer officer, USS Simpson
January 1931
Lieutenant (j.g.), engineer officer, USS Simpson
April 1931
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Paul Jones
July 1931
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Jacob Jones
October 1931
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Jacob Jones
January 1932
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Jacob Jones
April 1932
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Jacob Jones
October 1932
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Vega
January 1933
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Vega
April 1933
Lieutenant (j.g.), under instruction, Edgewood Arsenal, Edgewood, Maryland

Others at this command:
October 1935
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Omaha


Others at or embarked at this command:
LTjg Edward Allen '31 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 6B)
January 1936
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Omaha


Others at or embarked at this command:
LTjg Edward Allen '31 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 6B)
April 1936
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Omaha


Others at or embarked at this command:
LTjg Edward Allen '31 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 6B)
July 1936
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Omaha


Others at or embarked at this command:
LTjg Edward Allen '31 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 6B)
January 1937
Lieutenant, USS Omaha


Others at or embarked at this command:
LTjg Edward Allen '31 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 6B)
April 1937
Lieutenant, USS Omaha


Others at or embarked at this command:
LTjg Edward Allen '31 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 6B)
September 1937
Lieutenant, USS Omaha

January 1938
Lieutenant, USS Omaha

July 1938
Lieutenant, USS Omaha

Others at this command:
January 1939
Lieutenant, USS Omaha

Others at this command:
October 1939
Lieutenant, Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia


Others at or embarked at Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia:
2LT Dorrance Radcliffe '38 (Marine Barracks, Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia)
June 1940
Lieutenant, Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia

November 1940
Lieutenant, commanding officer, USS Dickerson
April 1941
Lieutenant, commanding officer, USS Dickerson

Namesake

USS Reybold (DE 177) was named for John; the ship was sponsored by his widow.


Class of 1926

John is one of 36 members of the Class of 1926 on Virtual Memorial Hall.

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